TGIF!!

It's been a great week!

The students began their day in PE.

When they returned to class, Mrs. Bartel and I reviewed some of the key concepts from math this week and went over two of the trickier problems from last night's homework.  Then the students took their weekly quiz.  These are graded and have been returned to the children.  They should be stored in the math section of the binder.

After the quiz, we identified balanced equations and began solving a 2-step word problem.

Our reading and writing block began with identifying the main idea and details to support it in the "Pack Carefully" section of "Into the Rain Forest" from National Geographic.  Then we used a Power Point to learn about writing fluency.  This was a huge topic to undertake on a Friday!  :-)  Some of the highlights include:

• all sentences must have a subject and a predicate
• the subject is who or what the sentence is about
• the predicate begins with the verb
• verbs show the action or state of being of the subject
• good writing includes sentences of varying lengths
• conjunctions are used to join two ideas and create a longer sentence
• since conjunctions join two ideas, they should NOT be at the beginning of a sentence

Believe it or not, there was MORE to the Power Point.  I decided that what we covered above was more than enough for a Friday writing lesson!

While I met with small groups, the children completed individual reading group assignments and continued gathering facts and definitions to answer their inquiry questions.

Sharks:  We reviewed the meaning of the words they collected for homework with the -ful and -less suffixes, focusing on using the meaning of the suffix.  Then we had a mini pop quiz on the 5 words we worked on this week.  After that, we continued reading page 15 of "Into the Rain Forest" and identified details that supported the main idea of the section.

Following lunch and outdoor recess the students continued their independent work while I met with more groups.

Pandas:  Early in the day the students reread chapter 12 and identified examples of cause and effect in their RRJ.  Then, they viewed a flipped lesson on the iPad about using text features and repeated words to identify the main idea in non fiction text.  They also completed a 3-2-1 summarizer.  IN group we discussed the idea of a flipped lesson and shared their 3-2-1 (3 new ideas they learned, 2 ideas they will try, 1 question they still had).  The lesson can be accessed through the third grade web site.


Dolphins:  We  shared the -less and -ful words they found for homework and used the meaning of the suffixes and base words to identify the meanings.  Then we took a mini pop quiz on the words we have worked on this week.  Finally, the students reread Jonathan Buys A Present and identified the problem and solution with post it flags.  Then we discussed what they marked.  Students struggles with identifying the problem.  So, we will work on this further.  However, once I stated the problem, they were all able to explain the solution!!

Cheetahs: The students reread "Into the Rain Forest" and then identified the main idea and supporting details in their RRJ.  In group, we shared the -less and -ful words they found for homework and used the meaning of the suffixes and base words to identify the meanings.  Then we discussed the main ideas they identified.  Finally, I reminded them that they need to use text features and think about repeated words when deciding upon the main idea.  We will continue working on this.

We ended the day by viewing two short video clips and reading about the judicial system in the US and the Roman Republic.  Then we compared and contracted the two systems.